Microsoft Surface 2 Goes on Pre-Order

Microsoft Surface, the uber-cool, yet incredibly bulky technology that supports touch and device interaction was trimmed down earlier this year at CES 2011 to become the super svelte Microsoft Surface 2.0. Now its Samsung incarnation, the SUR40 is ready for pre-order in 23 countries (including the U.S.) and could arrive in stores, hospitals, restaurants and more by early 2012.

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An innovative and exciting device when it first arrived on the scene in 2007, Microsoft Surface is a touch-screen on steroids. In its first incarnation, the coffee-table-sized Microsoft Surface used a combination of cameras, computers and touch sensitivity to allow multiple people to interact with on-screen activities. In a demonstration I saw in 2008, Microsoft representatives placed a smartphone on the screen, which Microsoft Surface then recognized, displayed information about the device and let me set about choosing different model options. Other demonstrations included a customer and sales rep working together on Microsoft Surface to design a custom skateboard.

Samsung’s version, officially called “Samsung SUR 40 for Microsoft Surface” drops the cameras and puts all the Microsoft Surface technology inside one large — still coffee table surface sized — 40-inch LCD touch screen. The secret sauce is the “PixelSense Technology” that lets the LCD panel “see” without using a camera. Earlier this year, Microsoft explained that this means “Every pixel is acting as a camera, so the surface of the PC can actually see.” Among the things it can see is up to 50-points of simultaneous interaction. In other words, Microsoft Surface 2.0 could support a bar game with up to five — all-fingers-on — participants. Samsung SUR 40 for Microsoft Surface is, essentially, a powerful computer with table legs. Underneath the Gorilla Glass screen is an AMD Athlon™ II X2 Dual-Core Processor 2.9GHz paired with a powerful graphics processor.

Though recognized as one of Microsoft’s sexiest innovations, Microsoft Surface has never been headed for the home. Instead, it has ended up in hospitals, manufacturing, retail and casinos. Part of it could be the price, which is estimated at between $10,00 and $15,000 per unit. Update: Microsoft reps confirmed with Mashable that the price in the U.S is $8,900. Outside the U.S. “pricing will vary based on country-specific duties, taxes and fees.”

For those anxious to build custom apps for the the Samsung SUR 40, there is, naturally, a developers’ kit available for download at the Surface Developers Center. Check out our gallery from Microsoft Surface 2.0′s CES 2011 introduction and then, in the comments below, lets imagine all the cool ways we can use this innovative technology.

HP server revenue falls in turbulent quarter, Gartner says

Worldwide server revenue grew 5.2% in the third quarter but declined for Hewlett-Packard (HP), Gartner Inc. said in a report on server sales during the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

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HP's quarter was a restless one. It fired one CEO and hired another and left the market wondering whether it was going to sell or spin-off its PC division, a move it later rejected.

In this same quarter, IBM's revenue share of the worldwide server market reached $3.85 billion, a 3.5% increase from a year ago. That gave it 29.7% of the worldwide market, nudging it ahead of HP for the top spot.

HP's server revenue, just over $3.8 billion, declined 3.6% from a year ago, leaving it with 29.3% of the world's market, according to Gartner. Third place Dell, meanwhile, grew 6.3% in server revenue during the period to more than $1.9 billion; it now has 14.7% share of the worldwide market.

Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay who was appointed in September as HP's new CEO, told financial analysts last week that HP needs "be simpler, clearer, and more consistent -- no more surprises."

Whitman cited the importance of innovation in selling products. Pointing to HP's recent introduction of low energy servers, Whitman said the company is increasing its investment in research and development.

HP has been hurt by Oracle's decision to discontinue software development on the Itanium processor, the company acknowledged.

"Our ability to close deals has been impacted by Oracle's Itanium decision," said HP's CFO, Cathie Lesjak, said during last week's call.

Gartner said that RISC-based systems and Itanium servers declined 6.8% worldwide, but vendors overall saw revenues increase 3.5%. Oracle Corp., which picked up Sun Microsystems' SPARC line, was in fourth place in revenue on Gartner's list, with nearly $764 million in server revenue. It had 6.2% of the market, unchanged from a year ago.

When measured by server shipments, HP saw a 3.1% decline in the third quarter to 693,265 shipments. It remains the leader in that category, followed by Dell, which increased shipments by 3.2%, to 517,867, and IBM, which saw no percentage change in shipments. IBM had 287,507 shipments, according to Gartner.

Market share as measured by shipments put HP at 29.2% of the market, Dell, 21.8% and IBM, 12.1%, Gartner said.

In Western Europe, beset by a financial crisis, server sales fell nearly 5%; that decline was offset by gains in other regions, including in Eastern Europe.

Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner, said that he can't definitely attribute HP's server revenue decline to its board level issues, but said it is possible that some businesses held off on orders in response. He cited other issues affecting HP's server sales, namely the decline in Unix and Oracle's Itanium decision, as contributing factors as well.

Unix, RISC and Itanium server revenue for HP fell 18.5% in the quarter, while IBM revenue grew by 27%. Oracle revenue in this category fell 11.6%, according to Gartner.

Hewitt said HP's third quarter "is likely to be something of a temporary glitch" that he expects the company to move past.

Oracle: HP paying Intel to keep Itanium going

Hewlett-Packard has secretly contracted with Intel to keep making Itanium processors so that HP can maintain the appearance that "a dead microprocessor is still alive", and make money from its locked-in Itanium customer base and take business away from Oracle's Sun servers, Oracle said in a court filing on Friday.

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The market has never been told that Itanium lives on because HP is paying Intel to keep it going, Oracle said. Intel's independent business judgement would have killed off Itanium years ago, it added.

HP however described the filing as a "desperate delay tactic designed to extend the paralyzing uncertainty in the marketplace" that it said was created when Oracle announced in March, 2011, in a breach of contract, that "it would no longer support HP's Itanium platform".

HP has made statements to the marketplace to the effect that Intel's commitment to Itanium is its own, based on its normal calculations for investing in processors that it believes have a future, Oracle said in a filing before the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara.

A public redacted version of the filing was made available to The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD blog. Intel said it is not a party to the lawsuit, and therefore does not have any comment on it. "Intel does not comment on commercial agreements that we may or may not have with our customers," the chip giant said in an e-mailed statement.

Oracle also claimed that HP had kept secret from the market, but revealed in a filing two days previously, that HP and Intel have a contractual commitment that Itanium will continue through the next two generations of microprocessors.

HP's strategy behind its "false statements" about Intel's support for Itanium was to take away business from Oracle Sun, and "reap lucrative revenues from the locked-in Itanium customer base using HP's HP-UX operating system on Itanium servers", as the company gets few service contracts on operating systems like Linux that run on x86 processors, Oracle said.

Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems last year.

HP filed a suit in June over Oracle's decision to stop developing software for the Itanium processor, the chip used in HP's high-end servers, claiming that Oracle's decision violates "legally binding commitments" that it made to HP and the companies' 140,000 joint customers.

Oracle said at the time that HP tricked it into signing an agreement last September to continue its support for Itanium, even though HP knew of an Intel plan to discontinue Itanium. HP already knew all about Intel's plans to discontinue Itanium, and HP was concerned about what would happen when Oracle found out about that plan, Oracle said in a statement in June.

As Oracle well knows, HP and Intel have a contractual commitment to continue to sell mission-critical Itanium processors to customers through the next two generations of microprocessors, thus ensuring the availability of Itanium through at least the end of the decade, HP said in a statement.

"The fact remains that Oracle's decision to cut off support for Itanium was an illicit business strategy it conjured to try to force Itanium customers into buying Sun servers -- and destroy choice in the marketplace," HP said.

Court rules that HP's Hurd probe document can remain secret

A document tied to an internal Hewlett-Packard sexual harassment investigation of former CEO Mark Hurd will remain sealed, according to a ruling handed down this week by the Delaware Supreme Court.

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HP shareholder Ernesto Espinoza had filed a lawsuit seeking to inspect the document, which was prepared by the law firm Covington and Burling on HP's behalf.

The Delaware Chancery Court had already ruled against Espinoza on grounds his need to see the document wasn't sufficient enough to override "attorney-client privilege and work product immunity protections," the state supreme court said in its ruling, which was handed down Monday. "We affirm, but on the alternative ground that Espinoza has not shown that the Covington Report is essential to his stated purpose, which is to investigate possible corporate wrongdoing."

Hurd resigned from HP in August 2010 and also reached a confidential settlement with a former HP contractor, Jodie Fisher. Shortly thereafter, he took a job as co-president of Oracle.

Although the internal HP investigation did not conclude Hurd was guilty of sexually harassing Fisher, it found he had broken HP's business conduct standards and uncovered a "systematic" series of inaccurate expense reports meant to cover up his relationship with her, the ruling added.

Hurd received a lucrative severance package from HP. Espinoza had argued that if HP's board had reason to fire Hurd "for cause," then the payments shouldn't have been made, the court said.

A Secure Network for Security Experts

Portable Security System from Cisco Will Protect Global Conference Network

A conference that attracts top security professionals from around the world is very tempting to hackers. Unless properly secured, the conference network could be vulnerable to attacks intended to disrupt the conference activity or to access sensitive information on participants’ computers.

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These threats will be considerably reduced in the network that Cisco is building for the annual international security conference hosted by the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) on June 21–22, 2007 in Seville, Spain. Cisco is building and managing this network free of charge for FIRST, which is a nonprofit organization for incident response teams from government, business, and education organizations worldwide.

Traveling Security System

Cisco will monitor network performance and security with a new, portable system developed by the Cisco Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). This traveling “system in a box” includes power equipment and the following network elements:

Two Cisco Catalyst Series 3750 switches for wired network connectivity
Multiple Cisco Aironet 1240 AG Series wireless access points using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) for authentication and encryption of wireless sessions
The Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliance (IPS Edition), which provides capabilities for firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, and secure VPN access
The Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (MARS) appliance, which performs security monitoring by correlating events reported by the network and security elements

All of these products are installed in a standard 19-inch rack that is mounted on compression shocks and brackets in a portable container. The container is hardened to prevent damage during shipping and has wheels for easy movement. “At the conference site, we will just need to connect the Ethernet cables, then we can immediately start monitoring the network activity and security,” says Gavin Reid, manager of the Cisco CSIRT team.

Threats that can be detected by this portable system include network intrusion attempts, viruses, events that trigger a security alert on the Cisco ASA appliance or Cisco Catalyst switches, and traffic flows that indicate anomalies. “We will be monitoring for suspicious activity and if found, we will be able to block it very quickly by using the capabilities in our traveling security system,” says Reid.

“Network connections at conferences can be haphazard, which is a concern for security professionals who must be able to securely connect to their enterprise networks while away from the office,” says Martin Nystrom, a Cisco CSIRT security engineer. “With the Cisco network and security capabilities at the FIRST conference, participants can be more confident in the security and reliability of their network connections.”

“Ready-to-Go” Network Security for Events and Emergency Response

Cisco plans to use this portable security system at other events, both public conferences and internal company meetings that are held at locations not connected to the Cisco network. “The equipment rack and shipping container have the size and flexibility to incorporate different devices as needed for each event or location where the portable system will be used,” explains Chris Fry, Cisco network security engineer. “For example, the system can contain only security and monitoring devices when it will be used in a location that already has a network.”

Adds Nystrom, “A portable network and security system can also be used by enterprises to respond to emergency situations or to deploy in advance as a preparedness measure. With all elements in one portable case, a network team can quickly deploy the system during an incident.”

About the Computer Security Incident Response Team

The Cisco CSIRT reduces the risk of loss as a result of security incidents for Cisco-owned businesses. CSIRT regularly engages in proactive threat assessment, mitigation planning, incident detection and response, incident trending with analysis, and design of the incident analysis and response portion of the Cisco network security architecture.

Court rules that HP's Hurd probe document can remain secret

A document tied to an internal Hewlett-Packard sexual harassment investigation of former CEO Mark Hurd will remain sealed, according to a ruling handed down this week by the Delaware Supreme Court.

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HP shareholder Ernesto Espinoza had filed a lawsuit seeking to inspect the document, which was prepared by the law firm Covington and Burling on HP's behalf.

The Delaware Chancery Court had already ruled against Espinoza on grounds his need to see the document wasn't sufficient enough to override "attorney-client privilege and work product immunity protections," the state supreme court said in its ruling, which was handed down Monday. "We affirm, but on the alternative ground that Espinoza has not shown that the Covington Report is essential to his stated purpose, which is to investigate possible corporate wrongdoing."

Hurd resigned from HP in August 2010 and also reached a confidential settlement with a former HP contractor, Jodie Fisher. Shortly thereafter, he took a job as co-president of Oracle.

Although the internal HP investigation did not conclude Hurd was guilty of sexually harassing Fisher, it found he had broken HP's business conduct standards and uncovered a "systematic" series of inaccurate expense reports meant to cover up his relationship with her, the ruling added.

Hurd received a lucrative severance package from HP. Espinoza had argued that if HP's board had reason to fire Hurd "for cause," then the payments shouldn't have been made, the court said.

Apple picks Sharp, dumps Samsung for iPad 3

The Samsung-Apple [AAPL] relationship seems on the rocks, with Apple shifting display production to Sharp, taking advantage of new and potentially cheaper production processes as it readies manufacturing for the iPad 3, iPhone 5 and in future, an Apple television, says Jefferies analyst, Peter Misek.

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Sharp and Apple

Digitimes last week made the claim that Sharp has begun manufacturing for Apple. Today that's confirmed in a fresh research note from Misek.

"We believe Apple has shifted display production and that Sharp has now become a large panel supplier, based on our checks. We believe that the Gen 6 Kameyama facility has been exclusively taken over for Apple purposes with Apple purchasing $500 million to $1 billion of equipment for the manufacturing of iPad 3 and iPhone 5 LTE displays," he said.

Then it gets interesting:

The analyst thinks Sharp has already begun iPad 3 display production (two weeks ago), and adds that the display tech achieved will allow for HD resolution screens on the iPad 3, which he suggests may ship in March. The analyst also thinks Sharp's plant will be used for iPhone 5 production.

Introducing IGZO

The adopted display tech is based on IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) processes, which offer near-OLED power consumption, is cheaper to make and only 25 percent thicker than displays made using OLED technology. This technology depends on oxide-material-based thin-film transistors, which enables manufacturing advantages.

The analyst has a host of interesting details on the new process, for example: "He believes that Apple and Sharp will jointly develop OLED panels for use in the iPhone and iPad within the next one to two years."

He describes a new printing technology Sharp and Apple have that enables OLED to be printed onto a film that's later stuck to the glass, boosting display yields to a "tremendous" degree.

Why is it less expensive?

Because it produces displays with similar performance to that of LCD, but which can be mass produced on existing amorphous-silicon TFT-LCD production lines. The IGZO transistors feature electron mobility 20-30 times higher than that of amorphous-silicon thin-film transistors, this report claims.

"The IGZO LCD panel’s performance outclasses anything attainable with conventional amorphous-silicon TFT panels," said Shuji Sako, deputy group general manager of Sharp’s Display Device Business Group.

Feeling the pain

Piling on even more agony on Apple's flailing tablet competitors, Misek also warns that Apple may intend keeping the iPad 2 on the market with a lower ($100-200 less) price.

The analyst has a host of interesting details on the new process, for example: "He believes that Apple and Sharp will jointly develop OLED panels for use in the iPhone and iPad within the next one to two years."

This mother-lode of analysis keeps on giving: Misek also believes work has begun on a new Apple television, set for mid-2012 launch, with the display made at another Sharp facility and prompting panic among other TV makers, anxious to avoid becoming irrelevant.

Jaw-jaw, or war-war?

Meanwhile litigation between parties continues. This has driven the relationship between Apple and Samsung to the rocks, while the public relations fallout of all the litigation isn't really doing anyone any favors.

Manufacturers are pouring money into legal teams, consumers are becoming radicalized, variously accusing Apple of being "controlling" and Google et al of being "copycats", and manufacturers are being slowly forced to focus on price, rather than features.

Don't believe that? Consider this: the biggest-selling non-Apple iPad sold in the US in 2011 was the HP TouchPad, on strength of the $99 price HP sold the device at. Just 1.2 million non-iPads were sold this year. Apple sold 11.2 million in the last quarter.

The battle's tough and is raising a new discussion about the value of patent and IP law. Not only this, but regulators in Europe and, presumably, beyond are beginning to look into all this struggle to ascertain if there's anything anti-competitive going on. Samsung's unusual handling of 3G patents, for example.

Overview of Major IT Certifications

In today’s competitive IT job market, an IT certification is often a prerequisite to get a high-paying job or a salary increase. Professional certifications are the best way to demonstrate your skills and expertise in any given technical field to present to prospective employers. Through education and certification, professionals gain the skills, knowledge, and validation needed to be recognized as an expert in diverse products or technologies. MCSE Certification, CCNA Certification, A+ Certification, and SAP Certification are a few of the many certifications or credentials an IT professional may achieve.

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Microsoft Certifications

Microsoft certification programs are considered to be the major advancement to gain both professional and education background. The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification prove an individual's expertise in designing and implementing the required infrastructure for any type of business solutions based on the Microsoft Windows 2000 platform and Microsoft Windows Server System. Other Microsoft certifications include MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer) certification, MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Analyst) and MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).

Cisco Certifications

The CCNA certification (Cisco Certified Network Associate) indicates a foundation in apprentice knowledge of networking with certified professionals able to install, configure, and operate WAN, LAN, and dial access services for small networks with 100 nodes or fewer. Operation and configuration services also includes but are not limited to use one but several of the following protocols: Serial, Frame Relay, IP RIP, IP, IGRP, VLANs, RIP, and Ethernet, Access Lists. CCNE, CCIE and CCNP are other Cisco certifications.

SAP Certification

SAP Certification is sponsored by SAP corporation - a leading business software (ERP, CRM and Supply Chain software) vendor. It is one of the few credentials in the world of business with additional value only issued to those professionals who demonstrated their abilities by passing demanding, process-oriented exams through rigorous study or direct experience.

A+ Certification

A+ certification is different from the others because it is not promoted by one company only, but by a whole group of PC manufacturers and other companies in the hardware market and its acceptance as an industry-wide credential offers additional benefits. A+ Certification prove the competency of entry-level service technicians in the computer industry and it is an internationally recognized testing program sponsored by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

Oracle Fusion Middle Ware core principles

What is Oracle Fusion Middleware?

Middleware has its roots in common integration tasks such as connecting software applications and exchanging data. Middleware makes a difference in the back office and on the front lines, where people and information meet.

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Over the years that followed, various technologies have emerged with the aim of making the development of distributed applications easier. Companies needed to integrate their existing applications and make them available to their entire organization. Many applications were hardware dependent, were difficult to monitor and maintain, and required large and powerful hardware. This is where middleware technologies began.
Middleware has come a long way, very quickly. Now, with standards-based integration and easy to use tools, a company’s internal IT resources are able to more easily integrate enterprise applications, maintain these integrations, and evolve these integrations to meet changing business needs.
Development tools provide graphical programming interfaces that make it so that IT programmers with no prior J2EE development experience can get up to speed very quickly. Integrations efforts are now greatly reduced with less coding involved.

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a comprehensive family of products ranging from application development tools and integration solutions to identity management, collaboration, and business intelligence reporting.
These products provide the critical software foundation needed to ensure corporate growth, insight, and control. With Oracle Fusion Middleware, you can leverage your investment in Oracle or any other vendor to make better decisions, secure sensitive information, streamline compliance initiatives, and mitigate risks. And because Oracle Fusion Middleware is modular and integrated, you buy only what you need, when you need it.
Fusion Middleware: Core Principles
Oracle fusion technology is based on five core principles:
• Model-driven: Modeled from applications, business processes, and business information
• Service & Event-enabled: Through extensible, modular and flexible applications and processes exposed as services
• Information-centric: Providing complete, consistent, and actionable real-time intelligence

• Grid-ready: With scalable, available, and secure architecture that is manageable on low-cost hardware
• Standards-based: Meaning it is open and pluggable in a heterogeneous environment
Oracle Fusion Middleware products provide the ability to:
• Orchestrate: Manage your business processes within a Service-Oriented Architecture
• Collaborate: Foster productivity with collaboration and content management services
• Protect: Manage risk and drive compliance with an unbreakable architecture and end-to-end identity management.
• Integrate: Improve your capacity for growth by integrating your existing applications and technologies
• Analyze: Improve insight into business operations with BI solutions and a common data model that turns information into action
• Use the applications, technologies, and skill-sets you already have with the Oracle’s middleware

IBM ASM 92P1168

From a connectivity standpoint the E220s has a good collection of ports. Notably, Lenovo had to leave an optical drive out of the Edge E220s in order to deliver a smaller form factor, but was able to keep the rest of the ports you would expect on a portable business notebook.HP COMPAQ nw8440 Battery
The Edge E220s has a low light webcam that performed well in most situations. You can see a sample image taken with the webcam below. It’s no replacement for a higher quality webcam, but for a notebook of this size it performs as well enough you can see my stubble.HP COMPAQ nw8440 Mobile Workstation Battery

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The real magic comes from the built in VOIP software which allows you to focus the microphone on yourself, ignoring background noise, or to listen to the entire room and act as a speakerphone. We’ve seen this in action on the X220 and the X1, but it is still impressive to have a conversation over the built in Mic without the person on the other end of the call hearing coworkers and background noise.HP COMPAQ nw9440 Battery

We like the fact that the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s sticks to business with a lack of extra software installed from the factory. Our review model came with the ThinkVantage toolbox, which you’ll find on most ThinkPad notebooks, but not much else. This toolbox includes the VOIP optimization software we mentioned above as well as other system tools for controlling security, battery life and backup and restore options.HP COMPAQ nw9440 Mobile Workstation Battery

Like most notebooks the ThinkPad Edge E220s comes with a standard one year warranty, but businesses will appreciate the ability to add an extended warranty up to three years, and opt for extras like accidental damage protection and on site repair service. Warranty pricing varies with coverage, but runs up to $279 for a three-year depot warranty.HP COMPAQ nx7300 Battery

There’s no question that the $800 Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s offers a great value to business users and students. The compact size, hearty performance and wonderful keyboard come together in a package that makes us wonder how Lenovo can offer it all for this price.HP COMPAQ nx7400 Battery

The ThinkPad Edge E220s isn’t the thinnest or lightest business notebook, but the whole package comes together very nicely. We definitely wish that the display wasn’t glossy and that the battery lasted longer than 5 hours, but the great keyboard and sexy looks compensate well. If you want an ultraportable that won’t break your budget, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s is one of our top picks.HP COMPAQ nx8200 Battery

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is an independent, nonprofit news service serving thousands of supporters of the Philadelphia public schools. The Notebook serves as an information source and voice for parents, students, teachers, and other members of the community who are working for quality and equality in Philadelphia's public schools.HP COMPAQ nx8220 Battery

A group of concerned parents, teachers, and community members committed to improving public education founded the Notebook as a quarterly newspaper in 1994. We remain an independent journalistic enterprise, with nonprofit status backed by foundation and donor / member support.HP COMPAQ nx8420 Battery

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is an independent,HP COMPAQ nx9420 Battery nonprofit news service serving thousands of supporters of the Philadelphia public schools. The Notebook serves as an information source and voice for parents, students, teachers, and other members of the community who are working for quality and equality in Philadelphia's public schools. A group of concerned parents, teachers, and community members committed to improving public education founded the Notebook as a quarterly newspaper in 1994. We remain an independent journalistic enterprise, with nonprofit status backed by foundation and donor / member support.HP COMPAQ 361909-001

Over our 17-year history, we have developed into a widely read and respected resource. Our newspaper has a circulation of 60,000 copies. Most of these are distributed free of charge through each Philadelphia public school and Free Library branch as well as through charter schools and over 250 community organizations.HP COMPAQ 361909-002

Each issue of the Notebook focuses on a theme of vital importance to public education in Philadelphia and contains both news and commentary in English and Spanish. The Notebook publishes the newspaper six times per year, a monthly NEWSFLASH, a daily blog, and community events and dialogues about education and education reform. Learn more about our offerings here.HP COMPAQ 372771-001

El Philadelphia Public School Notebook es un servicio de noticias independiente y sin fines de lucro que les sirve a miles de personas que apoyan las escuelas públicas de Filadelfia. El Notebook sirve como recurso de información y voz para los padres, estudiantes, maestros y otros miembros de la comunidad que están trabajando por tener calidad e igualdad en las escuelas públicas de Filadelfia.HP COMPAQ 381374-001

Un grupo de padres, maestros y miembros de la comunidad preocupados por mejorar la educación pública fundó el Notebook como un periódico trimestral en 1994. Todavía seguimos siendo una empresa periodística independiente sin fines de lucro financiada por el apoyo de donantes y nuestra fundación.HP COMPAQ 395794-001

En nuestros 17 años de historia nos hemos convertido en un recurso ampliamente leido y respetado. Nuestro periódico tiene una circulación de 60,000 copias. La mayoría de ellas se distribuye gratuitamente en cada escuela pública y biblioteca pública de Filadelfia, en cada escuela chárter y en sobre 250 organizaciones de la comunidad.HP COMPAQ 395794-002

Cada edición del Notebook se enfoca en un tema de vital importancia para la educación pública en Filadelfia y contiene tanto noticias como comentarios en inglés y español. El Notebook publica el periódico seis veces al año, un boletín NEWSFLASH mensual, un blog diario y también eventos y diálogos en la comunidad sobre el tema de educación y reforma educativa. Haga clic aquí para saber más sobre lo que ofrecemos.HP COMPAQ 395794-261

The is a portable notebook stand that offers 12 degree angle for ergonomic typing and airflow. The primary selling point of the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is that it is collapsible, which makes it easy to carry around. However, stability and the high angle weaken what would be an otherwise useful accessory.HP COMPAQ 398875-001

While some notebook stands are too bulky to take with you, the AViiQ’s weighs only 5.5 ounces and collapses flat to fit in the notebook compartment of your computer bag. The AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is so thin, you will barely notice it is there.HP COMPAQ 398876-001

The stand is made from four long slices of plastic that look metallic. They are held together by silicone rubber that comes in five colors, allowing you to find one that fits your style. AViiQ says that the Portable Quick Stand will work with smaller notebooks like the MacBook Air or larger 17? computers.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-DB06

The stand has a 12 degree angle which raises the notebook off the table offering increased airflow for cooling and a higher angle for those who prefer this angle while typing. People who have good touch typing form will like that angle.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-DB11

Unfortunately, like many users, we are lazy and rest our wrists on the front part of the laptop. As a result the angle is a little too high for comfortable typing. Very few of our staff find this kind of angle useful for typing. The good news is the stand can be used at a lower angle, even if it was not designed to be used that way. Below you will see what we mean.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-DB29

As you can see, when you fold the edge with the smaller pieces in on itself instead of putting them at the base of the triangle, the angle is much lower. This is a more comfortable angle to use while typing.The AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is quick and easy to set up, just press along the folded edge and it turns into a triangle that forms the base of the stand.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-I04C

There is a bit of a trick to make the stand work without your notebook sliding off. Our MacBook Air has two rubber feet on the bottom. We positioned the apex of the triangle just below those feet and it stays in place (see above). Another option is to have the top groove grab the back edge of the lid of your laptop (see below). This won’t help if your laptop doesn’t have a lid that folds back as low as the back edge of the MacBook Air’s lid.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-LB11

If you place the top of the Quick Stand against the MacBook Air’s flat metallic base, the notebook will slide off of the stand. Also, the AViiQ Portable Stand is a little unstable while you type, especially for those who bang on a keyboard. If you are a heavy typer the notebook will bounce a little while on the stand. Finally, you cannot use the stand on your lap at all.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-OB06

At $39.99 the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is on the high side. While the portability is a nice feature, the weaknesses above make the Portable Quick Stand too expensive for us to recommend. Typically stands in this price range offer more functionality and importantly a sturdier base to type on.HP COMPAQ HSTNN-UB11

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Apple to audit suppliers after pollution concerns, groups say

Apple plans to hire a third-party auditing firm to investigate 15 of its suppliers suspected of violating environmental regulations, according to local environmental groups that met with the company Tuesday.

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Apple has been holding talks with the groups after they accused the tech giant of failing to control the pollution caused by its suppliers in China.

Apple's Beijing office did not immediately respond to a query about the groups' claim, although it has previously said it is committed to ensuring its suppliers meet environmental and labor standards.

The groups' previous investigations have found environmental problems at the facilities of 27 suspected suppliers of Apple products. In one case, the pollution from two manufacturers was linked with a rise in cancer rates in residents living nearby, according to a report issued by the environmental groups in August.

Apple sent five employees to speak with the five Chinese environmental groups. Two of the employees came from Apple's U.S. headquarters and were in charge of supply-chain management. Apple requested the environmental groups not to reveal the employees' names to the press.

During Tuesday's meeting, Apple acknowledged that 15 of 22 of the suppliers the group has identified are in fact manufacturers of the company's products, according to Wang Jing Jing, vice director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a group which attended the talks.

But Apple didn't identify to the group which 15 suppliers of the 22 were the right ones, according to members of environmental groups that attended the meeting. They believe Apple should publicly release the information to keep the company and its suppliers more accountable.

"What Apple has been doing is positive," said Li Chunhua, the secretary general of the Green Stone Environmental Action Network, who participated in Tuesday's meeting on a conference line. "But we want them to be more open with their supply chain. They didn't do more in this area."

Apple's meeting with the environmental groups comes shortly after a factory believed to fabricate the aluminum casings for laptops was forced to shut down by the Chinese government.

Catcher Technology, a supplier for Apple's MacBooks, temporarily closed their facility last month after nearby residents complained of unbearable odors coming from the facility.

Samsung becomes biggest smartphone vendor as Android's market share grows

Samsung became the biggest smartphone vendor in the world during the third quarter, and Android's market share has surpassed 50% for the first time, market research company Gartner said on Tuesday as it reported on phone sales to end-users.

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Worldwide smartphone sales totaled 115 million units in the third quarter of 2011, up 42% from the third quarter of 2010. However, smartphone sales slowed compared to the second quarter, a consequence of the economic situation and of consumers holding out for new models, including the iPhone 4S, according to Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner.

Android and Samsung were the big winners among smartphone operating systems and vendors, respectively.

Samsung became the worldwide number one for the first time, selling 24 million smartphones, three times as many as it sold during the third quarter last year.

Samsung's support for Android, and the availability of a wide variety of low-cost smartphones running the OS, helped Android grab a 52.5% share of the market: 60.5 million smartphones based on the various versions of the OS were sold, according to Cozza.

Worldwide, Nokia is still the second biggest smartphone vendor and Symbian the second most popular smartphone OS. Consumers bought 19.5 million Symbian-based smartphones, giving the OS a 17% market share. Smartphones based on Symbian are still popular in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Nokia's first smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, the Lumia 800, has gone on sale in Germany, and will go on sale France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK later this month. Microsoft reached a new low during the third quarter as its operating system software now only has a 1.5% share of the smartphone market.

To compete with the Google camp and Apple, Nokia needs to expand its product portfolio and work with Microsoft on more ways to differentiate from the competition, according to Cozza. At the same time, Microsoft needs to add support for hardware features like LTE (Long-Term Evolution), which is becoming increasingly important.

"We don't expect to see a major impact on sales until the second half of 2012," said Cozza.

Apple sold about 17 million iPhones in the third quarter, an annual increase of 21%, but down nearly 3 million units from the second quarter of 2011, perhaps because potential buyers were waiting for the launch of the iPhone 4S, which came in the fourth quarter. That makes iOS still the third most popular OS, with a 15% market share, and Apple the third biggest smartphone vendor.

Now that the iPhone 4S has been released and is doing well, Cozza expects Apple to bounce back during the last three months of 2011. With the iPhone 4S and the lower pricing of older iPhone models, Apple is a formidable competitor, according to Cozza.

During the fourth quarter, the battle between the Android camp and Apple will be especially cutthroat in the U.S. HTC won the top spot during the third quarter, but Apple in second place and Samsung in third place are just behind, Cozza said.

Microsoft wasn't the only OS vendor heading downward: Research In Motion (RIM) recorded new market share lows in both the U.S. and worldwide, at 10% and 11%, respectively. It sold 12.7 million units, enough to make RIM the fourth-largest smartphone maker, and BlackBerry OS the fourth largest OS, according to Gartner's data.

HTC may the biggest smartphone vendor in the U.S, but the company is only the fifth-largest vendor worldwide. It sold about 12 million smartphones.

Beyond smartphones, worldwide sales of all types of phones totaled 440.5 million units in the third quarter, up 5.6% from the same period last year. The five biggest vendors are Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics, Apple and ZTE.

acebook places third: Companies young people want to work for

Facebook is the third company that Americans want to work for. Only two other companies were ranked higher by young professionals this year: Google and Apple.

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Facebook placed third this year in a ranking of how attractive an employer is among professionals in the US. This is a huge win for the social networking giant, considering it is just a 7-year-old company.

The results, which reveal how working professionals perceive organizations as employers, are based on a survey conducted by employment data and consulting firm Universum. The company asked 6,698 young professionals with one to eight years of experience between June 17, 2011 and September 30, 2011.

Respondents were asked to pick as many as five ideal employers out of a list of about 200. They could also write in candidates, and a total of 17,950 companies were evaluated. You can see the top 15 in the table above.

8.90 percent of young workers said they wanted to work for Facebook. Only two companies ranked higher: Google (19.67 percent) and Apple (12.74 percent).

Robots v. humans: Real steel or dumb metal?

Robots are making huge strides in space, on the ocean floor and even in the dentist office

Right from the start let's agree that the argument of humans or robots is getting close to being a dead heat in some areas. With advances in artificial intelligence and complex software, many robots are close to performing some duties better than their human counterparts.

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For example, NASA and General Motors built the 300 pound Robonaut2 - or R2 - a robot that is capable of using the same tools as humans and now works alongside them in space onboard the International Space Station. R2 can use its hands to do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines and can easily work safely alongside people, a necessity both on Earth and in space, NASA stated. It is also stronger: able to lift, not just hold, a 20-pound weight (about four times heavier than what other dexterous robots can handle) both near and away from its body. Granted the robot takes up valuable space station space, but it doesn't have to be fed or go to the bathroom - major advantages in space.

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Other robots such as the Octoroach being developed by UC Berkeley researchers can crawl into all manner of super-secret surveillance or emergency recovery applications that the human body just could not. The Octoroach is an eight-legged, sensor-laden, battery-powered device that can find its own way around a room and climb over obstacles. Its compliant, rather than rigid legs let it effectively mimic a cockroach scrambling across the floor.

Other robots such the REMUS 6000 autonomous underwater system recently conducted a 3,900 square mile search of Atlantic Ocean bottom looking for the deep-sea wreck site and black boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed off the coast of Brazil two years ago. The autonomous undersea vehicles are designed to operate in depths up to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet or 3.73 miles) and are capable of staying underwater for up to 20 hours. Human searches of the area never found anything, but the bots did.

But while robots can in certain areas achieve what humans cannot, you only have to look as far as say the products that are thought of and designed by the humans at Apple. Or look at the way humans can interact as a group to bring about social change -at least sometimes anyway. Getting robots to act as a group is a science that is only beginning to take shape.

Humans, at least some of them, still have feelings and emotions that robots just cannot mimic. Though some robots are getting close. Japanese researchers this year showed off a dentistry-training robot that can flinch, gag, blink and try to carry on a conversation with cotton stuffed in its mouth - effectively mimicking a real human visit to the dentist.

Still the notion that robots will at some point outperform us all is an interesting though scary proposition. In the current movie "Real Steel" a washed up boxer "teaches" a "sparing bot" how to fight in the ring with success. But in the movie the humans take control over the bots from time-to-time to help them box. Still, for purposes of our human v. robot argument, the movie was set in 2020 and the idea that robots could learn and perform boxing as a skill no longer seems that far-fetched.

Hackers may have spent years crafting Duqu

The hacker group behind Duqu may have been working on its attack code for more than four years, new analysis of the Trojan revealed Friday.

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Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab published some findings today from a recent rooting through Duqu samples provided by researchers in the Sudan, saying that one driver included with the attack payload was compiled in August 2007, extending the timeline of the gang's work.

"We can't be 100% sure [of that date], but all the compiled dates of other files seem to match to attacks," said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior researcher with Kaspersky, in an interview today. "So we're leaning towards that date as correct."

Schouwenberg added that the August 2007 driver was most likely created specifically for Duqu by the group responsible for the attacks, and was not an off-the-shelf file built by others, because the driver has not been spotted elsewhere.

Other researchers have found files amongst those used by Duqu that carry build dates of February 2008, but actual attacks have been tracked back only to April 2011.

That was also the month that the Sudan-provided samples indicated attacks took place against an unnamed target in that country, according to Kaspersky, which reported two separate attempts -- one on April 17, the second on April 21 -- to plant malware on Windows PCs.

The first attack failed because the email message carrying a malicious Word document was blocked by a spam filter; the second was successful.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Duqu campaign exploits a vulnerability in a Windows kernel-mode driver -- specifically "W32k.sys," and its TrueType font parsing engine -- to gain rights on the compromised PC sufficient to install the malware.

Although Microsoft has yet to patch the bug, it has urged customers to disable the font parser to protect themselves.

Kaspersky's other notable discovery was that each of the dozen Duqu attacks it knows of used a custom-created set of files compiled immediately before the malware was aimed at a target.

"The differences are pretty minor, but they are using unique files tailor-made for each operation," said Schouwenberg. "Each and every attack had its own command-and-control [C&C] server, with its location embedded in the files," he explained.

"That hints that they're very business oriented," Schouwenberg said. "They're very professional, very polished."

Although Kaspersky's newest analysis differs in some ways from that conducted by other security firms -- notably Symantec, which was the first to disclose Duqu's existence -- neither Schouwenberg or a Symantec director saw a conflict.

"Each security firm has different clients, different contacts, and with the limited sharing of samples, we may have just found the earliest [Duqu code]," said Schouwenberg.

Symantec echoed that.

"There are multiple variants of Duqu and the samples Kaspersky have analyzed simply reflect this fact," said Eric Chien, technical director of Symantec's security response group, in an email reply to questions today. "Thus, we have no reason to believe there are conflicts between our analysis and the analysis published by Kaspersky. Their analysis is based on earlier versions, which would account for the earlier date."

Duqu has been characterized by Symantec and others as a possible precursor to the next Stuxnet, the ultra-sophisticated worm that last year sabotaged Iran's nuclear program.

While some have disputed that, Kaspersky is firmly in the Stuxnet-connection camp.

"This new analysis has made us more confident that Duqu was created by the same people behind Stuxnet," said Schouwenberg.

There are certainly differences -- Stuxnet was an attack tool, Duqu seems designed to be part of an intelligence-gathering operation -- but Schouwenberg said there were even more similarities. One such similarity: a line between Stuxnet and Duqu's infection process that, he said, showed the authors of the former learned important lessons that they then applied to the latter.

"They learned from Stuxnet, which was very 'noisy,'" said Schouwenberg, referring to the widespread infections of the worm that many believe was due to over-eager attackers who had been stymied in an earlier attempt to infiltrate Iran's nuclear facilities. Duqu takes a much more cautious approach; It exploits only one unpatched, or "zero-day" Windows vulnerability, not the unprecedented four used by the Stuxnet shotgun.

"Duqu is very sophisticated," said Schouwenberg. "Some mistakes were made in Stuxnet, but all those mistakes are gone now [in Duqu]."

RIM stands by Flash mobile as it pursues HTML5

Research In Motion will continue to use Adobe Flash Player, at least for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, even after Adobe announced it will discontinue Flash for the mobile Web.

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RIM also said in a blog post that it will push ahead with both Flash and HTML5, a Flash alternative, for the PlayBook, just as it did when the PlayBook launched earlier this year.

Google, which launched the open-source Android mobile operating system, hasn't commented on Adobe's decision to ditch the Flash Player in future mobile browsers in order to focus on HTML5.

However, many Android developers and partners with Android phone makers have raised concerns about Adobe's decision, some saying they want to continue using Flash and want details on the progression from Flash Player to HTML5.

Microsoft decided not to include Flash in its Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" devices, after saying earlier in the year that it planned to work with Adobe to see if Flash software would work with Windows Phone mobile OS.

IDC analyst Al Hilwa said Microsoft's decision not to support Flash in Windows Phone 7.5 or Windows 8 Metro "has to have weighed in" Adobe's decision on Flash. "Deciding how much [Adobe should] invest in Flash is no doubt related to the overall investments that other key vendors are making in HTML5 ... The support for HTML5 is overwhelming from browser makers and platform owners."

IDC predicts that 90% of smartphones and tablets will have HTML5-ready browsers by 2013. On the other hand, IDC said it will take until 2015 for 90% of desktop browsers to support HTML5, which is one reason Adobe has stuck with investing in Flash for desktop browsers.

Apple and former CEO Steve Jobs never supported Flash on its various iOS devices because of performance problems when running Flash video that resulted in battery drain.

RIM's blog, penned by Dan Dodge, the CEO of the QNX division at RIM, gave plenty of credence to HTML5, calling it a "powerful, open standards-based development platform."

Dodge didn't say how long RIM plans to work with Flash, however. "As an Adobe source code licensee, we will continue to work on and release our own implementations [with Flash] and are looking forward to including Flash 11.1 for the BlackBerry PlayBook," he wrote.

Notably, Adobe had said it will release Flash Player 11.1 for Android and for the BlackBerry PlayBook, and will then discontinue development of Flash Player for browsers in new mobile devices.

RIM was "pleased" by Adobe's plan to continue development of Flash-based apps delivered via Adobe Air and through RIM's BlackBerry App World, Dodge added.

RIM's Alec Saunders, vice president of developer relations, added to Dodge's support in a separate blog, saying: "What I would like the developer community to know is that RIM will continue to support developers who have built Adobe Flash-based apps on our platform."

Where the heck is iWork '12?

Apple last major update of its venerable office suite — iWork — was almost three years ago and it’s starting to show its age. Is it going 64-bit? Will it get a Final Cut Pro X-style reboot?

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Where the heck is iWork ‘12?

Microsoft Office is an industry standard and a practical requirement for people that need to exchange office documents back and forth. But I tend to launch Keynote, Pages or Numbers when I’m creating a new document for me. Although I’ve done several tours with Office (who hasn’t) I prefer iWork for most tasks and Keynote is hands-down a better application than PowerPoint.

The problem is that Apple’s last major update of its venerable office suite was almost three years ago and it’s starting to show its age. Here’s a breakdown of the major iWork releases since it was announced in 2005:

January 11, 2005 — iWork ‘05
January 10, 2006 –- iWork ‘06
August 7, 2007 — iWork ‘08
January 6, 2009 — iWork ‘09

Although Apple is still promoting ‘09 versions of software on its website…

Many people (including myself) thought that Apple would release iWork ‘12 at its Let’s Talk iPhone event on October 4, but it didn’t come to pass. Apple instead released the iPhone 4S, iOS 5, and iCloud - nothing to sneeze at, mind you. I was almost certain that Apple would release iWork ‘12 alongside iOS 5. It made total sense — at least to me.

Instead of releasing iWork ‘12, Apple decided to release incremental updates to the suite, mostly to support new OS innovations.

On July 20 Apple released updates to iWork desktop apps adding OS X Lion features like full screen, resume, auto save and versions.

On October 12 Apple updated Keynote, Pages and Numbers for iOS to version 1.5, adding support for iCloud’s Documents in the Cloud feature. The updates allow users to automatically store presentations, spreadsheets and word processing files in iCloud and keep them synced among multiple iOS devices.

While iWork for iOS got Documents in the Cloud support, unfortunately the desktop versions didn’t follow suit. This necessitates the following workflow if you want to transfer a Pages document from your iPhone to your Mac (for example):

Pages app > documents screen
Touch Edit (icons start to shake)
Touch Document
Touch Share icon
Touch iWork.com
Oddly you must send an email notification (even if sharing to yourself) or it won’t upload
Visit iWork.com from a browser on your Mac, log in
Download the shared file (options include Pages, PDF or Word format)
Open it in Pages for Mac OS

Once you’ve got the document on your Mac, there’s no way to upload it to iWork.com. The only way to get the document back on your iPhone is to email it to yourself and select “Open with Pages” on your iOS device.

Obtuse, to say the least.

So where, oh where, is iWork ‘12?

Originally iCloud was believed to be holding it up, but Apple released iCloud on October 4, so that’s not it.

A theory being floated on the Apple discussion boards is that iWork ‘11 was being re-written to be 64-bit native and Apple “ran into some significant issues with existing 64-bit-able hardware base” so they’re downgrading it to 32-bit.

One of my favorite rumors is that iWork ‘12 will come with a Final Cut Pro X-style reboot. It apparently started when AppleBitch discovered an Apple job opening for a Senior User Interface Designer that would “rework the iWork suite on both Mac and iOS devices.”

Whatever the reason, Apple needs to ship it soon. Seemless iCloud integration is practically a given but I’m sure that Apple has some other snazzy features up its sleeve, too.

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HP makes more executive changes

After a couple of high-profile departures, HP on Wednesday announced some executive appointments, including a new CIO.

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John Hinshaw is now executive vice president of Global Technology and Business Processes, the company said. He'll oversee IT and will be in charge of optimizing business processes across the company. Hinshaw previously worked for Boeing and before that, Verizon Wireless. He'll report to Meg Whitman, HP's new president and CEO.


Craig Flower, an HP veteran since 1984, will take on the role of senior vice president and CIO. He'll report to Hinshaw.

Flower once reported to former HP CIO Randy Mott, who left the company in June as part of a restructuring instituted by short-lived CEO Leo Apotheker. Mott was known for his restructuring of HP's IT, including a massive reduction of data centers.

The appointments follow a number of high-profile departures at HP recently and this year. Last month HP's chief strategy and technology officer, Shane Robison, retired, and the company said it wouldn't replace him. Earlier this week, Phil McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for HP's Personal Systems Group, said he'd retire at the end of this year. In June, well-known HP veteran Ann Livermore stepped down as head of the Enterprise Business but took on a board seat. Whitman, HP's new CEO, is taking over for Apotheker, who lasted less than a year and who replaced Mark Hurd, who had been ousted after allegations of sexual harassment.

Majority of mobile users under 44 now have a smartphone

Smartphones continue to capture more mobile users, especially those less than 44 years old, according to a new third-quarter study from Nielsen.

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Only 43 percent of all mobile users own a smartphone, noted Nielsen. That figure covers everyone the company surveyed from 13 to over 65 years old. But ownership has hit more than 50 percent among some specific age groups under 44.

A majority 62 percent of those 25-34 own a smartphone and almost 54 percent of those aged 18-24 and 35-44 do as well. Teenagers are seen as heavy mobile phone users, but only 38 percent of those 13-17 own a smartphone as opposed to a basic feature phone. Moving up in age, 39 percent of mobile users 45-54 years old have a smartphone.

Smartphone usage is also growing among those 55-64. Though only 30 percent of people in this age range own a smartphone, that number is 5 percent higher than Nielsen saw in the second quarter.

In the neverending Android vs Apple smartphone contest, Android is on top, according to Nielsen with 43 percent of the U.S. market, while the iPhone is in the pockets of 28 percent of smartphone users. RIM's BlackBerry owns an 18 percent share, leaving Microsoft's Windows Phone with 7 percent, and other assorted vendors scooping up the remaining 4 percent.

Overall, smartphones grabbed 43 percent of mobile users for the third quarter, while feature phones still held onto a majority of 57 percent.

Lessons on the future of work from the days before email

Like many of you, I just spent the last few hours trying to make some headway on my email inbox, the only 40 year old technology still at the heart of my work day. What better way to relaunch this blog on "the future of work," I thought, than with some reflections on what work was like in the days before email.

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These days weren't that long ago -- I remember joining the strategy consultancy McKinsey & Company in the mid-90's, and spending my entire first day in our New York office getting trained in... voicemail. Yes, voicemail.

With distributed teams working on-site at hundreds of different clients around the world, voicemail was the tool of choice at McKinsey back then for providing important project updates to the partnership. We were taught how to write an outline of our voicemail's three main points ahead of time (there were always three main points), how to record our message clearly, and how to send it to the entire project team at once. Busy partners were trained on how to play back their voicemail at double speed to save time.

Of course, voicemail was a nightmare to work with. You couldn't search, and you had to go through your inbox sequentially, even if the most critical message was at the end of the queue. You had to dial-in and check it constantly. The most amusing limitation was the need to record a message all in one take -- I remember one of my engagement managers spending literally an hour in our team room recording and re-recording a particularly sensitive message to the partner, trying to get the tone just right while the rest of the team tried to keep a straight face. We did also have our Lotus Notes email system, but getting online was still a little dicey from a remote hotel or customer conference room, so voicemail was the channel through which important things got done. I got on email once a day to read the newsletter from HR and other office updates.

By the time I left the firm three years later, that had all changed. By then, email ruled the day. Voicemail became the thing that I checked at the end of the day to make sure there was nothing critical that I'd missed.

My point? There was a time before email. And there will be a time after email. I'm not saying that email will die, but email will someday surely assume the role that the voicemail and the written memo play in today's workplace. Because email is, in its own way, just as broken as voicemail when it comes to supporting the way people work. Email is:

Completely unstructured, even when talking about increasingly structured things
Message centric, instead of centered on the people or topics it is about
Siloed, forever stuck in inboxes across the company instead of a centralized place where it can be discovered and shared
Asynchronous to a fault, in an increasingly realtime world
Lacks context -- every email message is an island, lacking context form everything else in your business

I'm not just picking on email -- that's just one example of how the way we work today is broken. We still use spreadsheets to keep track of who is doing what, by when. We still use presentations to organize meetings and make decisions. We use text documents to jot down things we want to remember.

There must be a better way to work. That's what I want to explore here in this blog -- examining the future of work.

Of course, the future of work is already here, its just unevenly distributed (with a nod to William Gibson). In the technology industry, we get little glimpses of what the future of work might look like every day -- when Box.net raises a new round of funding, when Jive files for its IPO, when Google brings a feature like Google+ to its productivity suite, when established vendors like SAP and Oracle struggle to catch up as they duke it out with vendors like Salesforce.com, and even when emerging companies like my employer Podio make us more productive doing things like collaborating on projects from our mobile devices.

But these are just glimpses. As someone who spends nearly as much time thinking about the nature of work as I do actually getting work done (sometimes to my own detriment!), I'm continually amazed by how early we are in this transition. But at least I'm not staying up late re-recording voicemails to my teammates anymore!